THE FACTORY
3. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE FACTORY
3. Historical overview of the factory
However, the Cotonificio Fratelli Bosio had a slightly complicated start, and the Bosio brothers were not the ones who started its idea as it is mentioned in the ar-chival documents. 46* The land in which the factory is now constructed, harbored a house probably of a rural type, and belonged to Giuseppe Ferro Di Parodo. 47*
From the document of July 6, 1871, It appears that Fer-ro demanded on behalf of a commercial house, which he declared to be in negotiations for sale, to obtain the right to build a silk spinning on the land along with a series of ancillary rights, which will further enhance the location. The first demand was the use of the water coming from the public fountain, the Rusta Fountain, from which the maintenance of the current water flow was guaranteed. Furthermore, the presence of water jumps was necessary for the mechanical movement of the twisting machines, resulting in the request to alter the structures of the Bealera, to raise the water surface and cause a jump at the spinning and install a wheel with hydraulic motor. Additionally, Ferro asked for the exclusivity to use the Bealera if future textile manu-factures were installed in Sant’Ambrogio. In exchange, he declared that with this work, the community would benefit from the employment of about three hundred workers. At the end of the document, It was stated that Claudio Cesare Debenedetti had acquired the proper-ties of Giuseppe Ferro and succeeded him in the re-quests addressed to the City Council.
The council met on July 23,and approved the demands made with specific instructions; The installation of the pipes in the fountain, which had to be managed for two years, starting 1871, the right to exclusive use of the Bealera with the exception of the already existing Eredi Borello West factory. Further approval of Clau-dio Debenedetti’s application came from the Provin-cial Deputation of Turin, which was announced on 6 September of the same year. 48*
On February 11, 1872, the Bosio Brothers obtained the permission to use the same section of the canal for their future establishment, even though Debenedetti had obtained exclusive rights over the Bealera. It is not clear, however, whether Debenedetti’s factory, which at the beginning of 1872 was probably not yet active, was ceded to the Bosio or simply was never built and put into use. In any case, starting from September 1871 there is no longer mention of this factory, nor in the ar-chive documents, nor in the printed publications.
The first nucleus of the Bosio cotton mill is
document-46* Archivio Storico di Sant’Ambrogio di Torino: Fal-done 76’Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio’, Fascicolo 2’ In-dustrie 1871-1895; Categoria X, Faldone 66’ Lavori, Edilizia e Servizi Pubblici, Fascicolo 2’
Bealera Cantarana, documen-ti reladocumen-tive 1874-1896, Cited F.
LOPETUSO, P. NICOLOTTI, L’ex Cotonificio Fratelli Bosio di Sant’Ambrogio du Torino.
Conoscenza, restauro, valo-rizzazione, Tesi di laurea, Po-litecnico di Torino, I Facolta di Architettura, Prof. Manuela Mattone, 2004-2005.
47* Lettera e Sindaco e Con-siglieri di Sant’Ambrogio di Susa del 6 luglio 1871 si legge:
“Fabbricato con corte ed orto”.
Faldone 76, Archivio Storico di Sant’Ambrogio di Torino, Cited ibid.
48* Verbale de Consiglio Communale del 23 luglio 1871, Faldone 76, Archivio Storico di Sant’Ambrogio di Torino, Cited ibid.
3. Historical overview of the factory
88 89 Fig 70: Il primo direttore dello
stabilimento, cav. Alessandro Neveux.
L. MARCHITELLI, Le indus-trie, l’ artigianato, il turismo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sacra, Ti-polito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 59.
49* N. RAIMONDO, La manifattura Fratelli Bosio, Sant’Ambrogio un paese ai piedi della Sacra, Tip.Morra, 1999, p.103-107.
50* L. MARCHITELLI, Sant’Ambrogio e la sacra di San Michele, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sacra, Tipolito melli-Su-sa, 1985, p. 21-32.
51* E.GIANERI GEC, Storia di Torino industiale, Editrice Piemonte in Bancarella, Tori-no, p188. Da E.TREVISANI, Rivista industrial e commer-ciale di Torino e Provincia, Tipografia Capriolo e Mas-simino, Milano 1896, pp 120 e seg, cited F. LOPETUSO, P.
NICOLOTTI, L’ex Cotonificio Fratelli Bosio di Sant’Ambro-gio du Torino. Conoscenza, restauro, valorizzazione, Tesi di laurea, Politecnico di Tori-no, I Facolta di Architettura, Prof. Manuela Mattone, 2004-2005.
3. Historical overview of the factory
From the second half of the 19th century, from 1870 until the early 20th century, the Susa Valley witnessed a phase of industrialization, which altered enormous changes on the pre-existing territorial structure, cre-ating new infrastructures and industrial settlements.
In this area there were five main establishments: the Maglificio F.lli Bosio (S. Ambrogio 1871), the Wild &
Abegg cotton spinning (Borgone 1882), the Schauffus woolen cloths and Weller (Susa 1886), the Officine Bauchiero ( Condove 1906) and Cotonificio Abegg &
C. (Susa 1915). Canalizations dating back to the Mid-dle Ages, built for irrigation and as a function of mills, were transformed into canals to draw water to activate machinery. In particular, the Fratelli Bosio settled near the medieval walls, using the Cantarana canal to create hydraulic power. Even today, the imposing complex with its structure bears witness to the importance it had over 100 years ago: the quadrilateral that enclos-es the plant, built on an area of 10,000 square meters, the first built-up area that met the exit from the train station , was founded in 1871 by Pietro and Augusto Bosio. 49*
According to Luigi Marchitelli, the production process began in 1872, with sixty workers. 50*
The owners were engaged in various industrial activ-ities and therefore the technical management of the establishment and its overall management was en-trusted from the beginning to Alessandro Neveux, who for all his life took care of this task with dedication.
The growing production development of the plant was favored above all by the use of advanced machinery.
Already in 1874 there were already two hydraulic mo-tors, moreover the machinery used, mainly frames, were among the most modern of the time, favoring a continuous increase and a greater speed of processing.
Everything needed for processing was thus produced within the industry. Among the various departments there were: the workshop for maintenance, the print-ing, the dyeprint-ing, even a department for the manufac-ture of the boxes and the boxes necessary for the shipment of the products. Besides, there was a special department for the frames produced by the company itself, designed and patented by Alessandro Neveux.
Only the administrative management was not based in Sant’Ambrogio but in Turin, at 26 Corso Siccardi.51*
A complete cycle of production existed, from the cot-ton that arrived on board trucks were passed to the spinning of the fibers and subsequently to the weaving of knitwear or to the production of sewing threads. For a period of time, the manufacture also produced cur-tains for the soldiers. Depending on the departments to which it was entrusted, it was paid on a piecework basis or per day. In 1889 the workers employed in it were 700 units, of which 550 were women and 150 men, equipped with 130 mechanical looms and 20 manuals, 2 steam boilers, 2 steam engines and two plumbers, for an overall strength of 125 hp . The pro-duction amounted to 1500 kg per day of cotton sweat-ers, half exported. Three years later, the employees had grown to 720, the mechanical frames were 150 and the manual ones and the company also made use of home workers. In just 7 years, in 1896, the work-force grew to 1000 units, while the engine strength was increased to reach 300 hp with steam, allowing a production of 1300/1500 dozens of articles a day. 52*
52* N. RAIMONDO, La manifattura Fratelli Bosio, Sant’Ambrogio un paese ai piedi della Sacra, Tip.Morra, 1999, p.103-107.
Fig 71: L’uscita degli operai dallo stabilimento: via della Stazione.
L. MARCHITELLI , Problemi ed avvenimenti tra XIX e XX secolo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sa-cra, Tipolito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 69.
3. Historical overview of the factory
Fig 72: Gli operai tornano a casa dopo la giornata lavorati-va convergendo verso il centro del paese.
L. MARCHITELLI , Problemi ed avvenimenti tra XIX e XX secolo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sa-cra, Tipolito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 68.
52* Ibid.
53* I due casi emergenti di villaggi operai in Valle di Susa sono quello della Ferriera di Buttigliera Alta e quello delle Officine Bauchiero di Condove. Inoltre è importante ricordare come, quella che nell’Ottocento è stata la più grossa azienda della Valle, la Wild & Abegg, abbia pratica-mente affrontato il problema delle case operaie in termini trascurabili in rapporto al numero delle maestranze occupate nei suoi stabilimenti, sia al momento dell’impianto dell’azienda sia in periodi suc-cessivi. B. MALVICINO, P. E.
PEIRANO, op. cit., p. 53, cited F. LOPETUSO, P. NICOLOT-TI, L’ex Cotonificio Fratelli Bosio di Sant’Ambrogio du Torino. Conoscenza, restauro, valorizzazione, Tesi di laurea, Politecnico di Torino, I Facolta di Architettura, Prof.
Manuela Mattone, 2004-2005.
3. Historical overview of the factory
In a short period of time, the establishment put the competition out of business, thanks to the intelligent development policy that its director followed. This work was awarded several times; at the Turin exhibition in 1884, the Manu-facture obtained 2 gold medals (one for fabrics and one for the improvements made in the manufacture of knitting machines), a certificate of merit, a gold medal for director Alessandro Neveux, who covers this position from 1872 to 1905 and whose bust is located in the public gardens of Via Caduti per la Patria.
Moreover, two other medals, one of bronze and one of silver, for his mechanic Alessio Marengo. The factory’s presence was of fundamental importance for the town of Sant’Ambrogio, so much so that the Bosio brothers, received honorary citizenship on 15 September 1891, an act by which the Municipality intended to give credit for the works that the industrialists regularly lent; moreover the same honor was given to Alessandro Neveux in 1895.52*
Around 1905 the knitwear company employed almost 1400 workers who an-nually manufactured 5 million knitwear: bodices, shirts, swimsuits, socks, etc.
The growth of the plant led to several transformations in the town’s urban struc-ture; the expansion of the primitive plant, near the Cantarana canal, towards the railway to occupy over four hectares of land, among the current via Neveux, via Antiche Mura, via I Maggio and corso Moncenisio. Moreover, in 1893, the workers’ houses emerged constituting the new village, whose main street was named after the Bosio Brothers on May 3rd, 1894. These settlements were the houses of the department heads of the plant and are until today mostly owned by their descendants. 53*
Fig 73: Monumento ad Ales-sandro Neveux, dedicatogli dai fratelli Bosio.
L. MARCHITELLI , Problemi ed avvenimenti tra XIX e XX secolo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sa-cra, Tipolito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 73.
54* P. GIARDINO, Tras-formazione e recupero fisi-co-territoriale del patrimonio edilizio legato alle varie fasi della industrializzazione in Val di Susa, tesi di laurea, Po-litecnico di Torino, Facoltà di Architettura, 1980, relatore prof. B. Garzena, prof. A. Ar-iani (appendice 7), cited Ibid.
55* Denuncia d’esercizio, Uffi-cio del Ministero di Agricoltu-ra, Industria e Commercio, atti del 12 gennaio 1915, 9 feb-braio 1918, 27 gennaio 1919, 28 gennaio 1920, Faldone 207, Archivio Storico di Sant’Am-brogio di Torino, cited Ibid.
56* N. RAIMONDO, La manifattura Fratelli Bosio, Sant’Ambrogio un paese ai piedi della Sacra, Tip.Morra, 1999, p.103-107.
57* M. SORBO, Ex Maglifi-cio Bosio, Piano Particolareg-giato, Studio di Architettura e urbanistica, Comune di Sant’Ambrogio, 2017.
3. Historical overview of the factory
Along the Via della Stazione, the villa of the plant’s director Alessandro Neveux was built, known today as the municipality of Sant’Ambrogio Di Torino.
The crumbling of the production began with the death of the director in 1905 and Augusto Bosio in 1910. After these events, the factory will enter a period of crisis that would last until the final closure of the plant. 54*
The son of Alessandro Neveux, Fortunato, took over the direction after the passing of his father, at least until 1920. Additionally, the property of the facto-ry went to Vittorio and Alberto, the sons of Augusto Bosio. 55*
Nevertheless, between 1915 and 1920, the mechanical machinery was func-tioning with a force of 350 hp, after it fell to 225 during the First World War, along with the hours of work and the number of workers. In 1915, the number of workers was 979 and was reduced to 813 in 1920. During this year, the sons of Augusto Bosio, sold the company to the lawyer Valentino Bellia, becoming Società Anonima Fratelli Bosio. In 1942, the factory became the property of Italtexil and then forced to close in 1949, due to misunderstandings among the employees and numerous knitwear thefts that took place within the company.
Towards the sixties of the 20th century the dismantling of many of the interi-ors of the old Bosio factory began: the Municipality also gained the purchase of the Neveux villa to transfer its offices to it. 56*
Up until today, the factory has been occupied by various productive activities while remaining the sole owner of the soc. ITOM MOTOR S.a.s. by Arturo Cor-radi & C. Two of those activities are the brewery “Birrificio San Michele” and Avia snc, a company for industrial installations. 57*
92 93 74
75 3. Historical overview of the factory
Fig 74: La filatura, Fig 75: I telai.
L. MARCHITELLI, Le indus-trie, l’ artigianato, il turismo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sacra, Ti-polito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 60.
76
77 Fig 76: Reparto Lavaggio, Fig
77: Operai.
L. MARCHITELLI, Le indus-trie, l’ artigianato, il turismo, Sant’Ambrogio, Storia di un paese all’ombra della sacra, Ti-polito melli-Susa, 1985, p. 60.
3. Historical overview of the factory
3. Historical overview of the factory
Fig 78,79: D. MILETTO, Car-toline “d’altri tempi”, Sant’Am-brogio Un paese ai piedi della Sacra, Tip.Morra, 1999, p. 86-89.
78
79
3. Historical overview of the factory
Fig 80,81,82: Workers’ Hous-es today, in Via Fratelli Bosio, Sant’Ambrogio di Torino.
Fig 83: Municipality of Sant’Ambrogio today.
Rilievo fotografico, Comune di Sant’Ambrogio di Torino. <
<http://www.comune.santam-brogioditorino.to.it>
96 97
H I S T O R I C A L
T I M E L I N E
1871
A series of requests made by Giuseppe Ferro, to build a silk spinning on the land along with a series of ancillary rights and the exclusivity of the Bealera.
Claudio Cesare Debenedetti had acquired the
proper-ties of Giuseppe Ferro and succeeded him in the requests addressed to the City Council.
The city council approved his requests.
1874
There were already two hydraulic motors, more-over the machin-ery used, mainly
frames, were among the most modern of the time, favoring a continuous increase and a greater speed of processing.
1893
The workers’
houses emerged constituting the new village, whose main street was named after the Bosio Brothers on May 3rd, 1894.
1905
The knitwear company employed almost 1400 workers who annually manufactured 5 million knitwear.
The director Alessandro Neveux died.
1915
The mechanical machinery was functioning with a force of 350 hp, after it fell to 225 during the First World War, along with the hours of work and the number of
work-ers. In 1915, the number of
work-ers was 979.
1942
The factory became the property of Italtexil.
1889
The number of workers increased to 700 units, 550 were women and 150 men, equipped with 130
mechani-cal looms and 20 manuals, 2 steam boilers, 2 steam engines and two plumbers, for an overall strength of 125 hp . The production
amount-ed to 1500 kg per day of cotton
sweat-ers, half exported.
1884 1896
The Manufacture obtained 2 gold medals (one for fabrics and one for the improvements made in the manufacture of knitting machines), a certi�icate of merit, a gold medal for director Alessandro Neveux, who covers this position from 1872 to 1905 .
1872
The Bosio Brothers obtained the permis-sion to use the same section of the canal
for their future establishment, even though Debenedetti had obtained
exclusive rights over the Bealera.
The production process began in 1872, with sixty workers.
1920
The number of workers is reduced to 813.
The two sons of Augusto Bosio that took over after he died, Vittorio and Alberto, sold the company to a lawyer Valentino Biella becoming Società Anonima Fratelli Bosio.
1892
The employees had grown to 720, the mechanical frames were 150 and the manual ones and the
compa-ny also made use of home workers.
1910
Augusto Bosio died during this year.
After these events, the factory will enter a period of crisis that would last until the �inal closure of the plant.
The workforce grew to 1000 units, while the engine strength was increased to reach 300 hp with steam, allowing a production of 1300/1500 dozens of articles a day.
1949
Due to misunderstandings among the employees and numerous knitwear thefts that took place within the company, it closed its
door in this year.
100 101
Knowledge, reuse and enhancement of an industrial building: The former Cotonificio Fratelli Bosio in Sant’Ambrogio di Torino
S U R V E Y
CHAPTER 4
“Planning and designing in the field of architectur-al heritage requires not only knowledge of contem-porary building techniques, design processes and national and international guidelines, but also a deep understanding of architectural heritage, its evolution and genesis, the building techniques that have been applied, materials used, traditions, etc.”
58*
In all of the cases, it is required to accomplish a build-ing survey and to fulfill the architectural features to reach the appropriate design concept.51*
In our case, we requested the drawings of the Cotonifi-cio Fratelli Bosio from the municipality of Sant’Ambro-gio and we received them as photos and not as techni-cal drawings. Surely, due to the deficiency of precise drawings, we borrowed the equipment from Politecni-co di Torino; a laser distance and a tape measure. After it, we visited the site and we checked the dimensions of the building in order to verify the measurements before drawing the plans, sections and elevations in a dwg format.
58* ISPRS , 26th International CIPA Symposium, Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Informa-tion Sciences, Volume IV-2/
W2, Ottawa, Canada, 2017.